Cellphone wallet with key pocket

ABSTRACT

A self-adhesive cell phone wallet that can be affixed to a cell phone includes a card member pocket and a key member pocket. The self-adhesive cell phone wallet enables a user to carry items typically stored in a wallet and a number of keys such that the user only has to carry a cell phone to transport the items stored in the card member pocket and the key member pocket, rather than carrying a handbag or wearing pockets to separately transport a cell phone, a wallet, and keys.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/926,707 filed on Oct. 28,2019, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The disclosed concept pertains to add-on wallets for wireless handhelddevices, such as cell phones.

2. Description of the Related Art

Cell phones and other wireless handheld communication devices havebecome an integral part of modern life. Leaving home without a cellphone is akin to leaving home without a wallet or keys. As important ashaving a cell phone, wallet, and keys outside the home can be, keepingtrack of where all three items are located at any one time can betedious. At times, it can be undesirable to have to carry a handbag orother accessory to transport all three items, or to wear clothing withpockets large enough to accommodate all three items.

Accordingly, there is room for improvement in systems used tosimultaneously transport a cell phone, wallet, and keys.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide, in oneembodiment, a self-adhesive cell phone wallet comprising: a base memberincluding an adhesive material provided on a first phone facing surfacethereof; a first wall member coupled to the base member at a secondsurface of the base member, the first wall member being coupled to thebase member such that a card member pocket structured to receive andhold a card member is formed; and a second wall member coupled to thefirst wall member, the second wall member comprising: a top edge; abottom edge; a first portion; and a second portion, the first portionbeing wider than the second portion and the second wall member beingcoupled to the first wall member such that a key member pocketstructured to receive and hold a key is formed, wherein an axis of thesecond wall member is disposed at an angle not parallel to a bottom edgeof the first wall member, and wherein the key member pocket comprises afirst portion corresponding to the first portion of the second wallmember and a second portion corresponding to the second portion of thesecond wall member.

These and other objects, features, and characteristics of the presentinvention, as well as the methods of operation and functions of therelated elements of structure and the combination of parts and economiesof manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing description and the appended claims with reference to theaccompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification,wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in thevarious figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only andare not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a an angled view of a self-adhesive cell phone wallet with akey pocket in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosedconcept;

FIG. 2 is an angled cross-sectional view of the cell phone wallet shownin

FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an alternate view of the base member of the cell phonewallet shown in FIG. 1 with an adhesive material affixed on the phonefacing surface of the base member in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosed concept;

FIG. 4 shows the cell phone wallet shown in FIG. 1 affixed to a cellphone and including alternate features to ensure the security of itemsstored in the key member pocket in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosed concept; and

FIG. 5 shows the first wall member of the cell phone wallet shown inFIG. 1 formed with an opening in accordance with an exemplary embodimentof the disclosed concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

As used herein, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and “the” include pluralreferences unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

As used herein, the statement that two or more parts or components are“coupled” shall mean that the parts are joined or operate togethereither directly or indirectly, i.e., through one or more intermediateparts or components, so long as a link occurs.

As used herein, the term “number” shall mean one or an integer greaterthan one (i.e., a plurality).

As used herein, the word “unitary” means a component is created as asingle piece or unit. That is, a component that includes pieces that arecreated separately and then coupled together as a unit is not a“unitary” component or body.

Directional phrases used herein, such as, for example and withoutlimitation, top, bottom, left, right, upper, lower, front, back, andderivatives thereof, relate to the orientation of the elements shown inthe drawings and are not limiting upon the claims unless expresslyrecited therein.

The disclosed concept, as described in greater detail herein inconnection with various particular exemplary embodiments, provides amechanism that enables a cell phone or other wireless handheldcommunication device to store items typically stored in a wallet and anumber of keys. FIG. 1 shows an angled view of a self-adhesive cellphone wallet with a key pocket in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosed concept, and FIG. 2 shows an angledcross-sectional view of the self-adhesive cell phone wallet shown inFIG. 1. Wallet 100 comprises a base member 110, a first wall member 120,and a second wall member 130. Referring to FIG. 3, base member 110 has aphone facing surface (the phone facing surface being disposed on a sideof base member 110 opposite the side and surface of base member 110shown in FIG. 1) on which an adhesive material 150 is included in orderto enable wallet 100 to be easily affixed to a cell phone andsubsequently removed from the cell phone if desired.

Referring again to FIG. 1, first wall member 120 is coupled to thesecond non-phone facing surface of base member 110 to form a card memberpocket 115, sized in order to adequately fit and secure cards such asuniversity student ID cards, credit or debit cards, and other similarlysized cards, as well as cash. Second wall member 130 is smaller insurface area than first wall member 120 and is coupled to first wallmember 120 in order to form a key member pocket 125, second wall member130 being sized and shaped such that key member pocket 125 canadequately fit and secure a key, for example and without limitation ahouse or dormitory key. In an exemplary embodiment, base member 110 isformed with a cutout 200 in its top edge (relative to the view shown inFIG. 1) located proximate to the opening of card member pocket 115 andfirst wall member is formed with a dip 300 in its top edge (relative tothe view shown in FIG. 1) at the opening of card member pocket 115 inorder to make grabbing a card member out of card member pocket 115easier.

Second wall member 130 comprises a top edge 132, a bottom edge 134, afirst portion that includes top edge 132, and a second portion thatincludes bottom edge 134, the first portion being relatively widecompared to the second portion and the second portion being relativelynarrow compared to the first portion, such that a corresponding firstportion of key member pocket 125 is wide enough to fit the bow of a keyand a second portion of key member pocket 125 is structured to receivethe blade of the key. Second wall member 130 is positioned such that itslongitudinal axis 131 (shown in dashed line in FIG. 1) is disposed at anangle not parallel to the bottom edge (relative to the view shown inFIG. 1) of first wall member 120. As seen in the figures, the bottomedge of first wall member is substantially straight. Dashed parallelline 121 is parallel to the bottom edge of first wall member 120, and anangle θ is formed between axis 131 and parallel line 121. Positioningsecond wall member 130 such that axis 131 is disposed at a non-parallelangle relative to the bottom edge of first wall member 120 makes iteasier to discern key member pocket 125 from card member pocket 115 bytouch while maintaining the security of a key placed inside of keymember pocket 125, since disposing second wall member 130 at anon-parallel angle results in the opening of pocket 125 being orientedat least partially upward (relative to the view shown in FIG. 1) ratherthan being oriented completely sideways with the top edge 132 of secondwall member 130 being parallel to the right edge (relative to the viewshown in FIG. 1) of first wall member 120. It is suggested that a valueof 0 within the range of 45 degrees to 60 degrees maximizes the easewith which key member pocket 125 can be discerned from card memberpocket 115 by touch alone, however, values of 0 outside of this rangemay be used without departing from the scope of the disclosed concept.

In an exemplary embodiment, base member 110, first wall member 120, andsecond wall member 130 can be produced from polymers such as plastic orsilicone that are sufficiently rigid so as to form a secure pocket whilealso being sufficiently pliable to allow retrieval of a card out of cardmember pocket 115 or a key out of key member pocket 125. Accordingly,first wall member 120 can be coupled to base member 110 and second wallmember 130 can be coupled to first wall member 120 by any methodsuitable for coupling polymer members to one another, including but notlimited to welding or integrally forming such components together byinjection molding. In an exemplary embodiment, the non-phone facingsurface of base member 110, i.e. the surface visible in FIG. 1 whichforms card member pocket 115 with first wall member 120, can be texturedin order to better secure the cards, cash, or other items being storedin card member pocket 115.

To further ensure the security of a key or other item being storedwithin key member pocket 125, second wall member 130 can be formed asany one of a number of shapes to accommodate keys of various shapeswithout departing from the scope of the disclosed concept. In onenon-limiting example, referring to FIG. 4, second wall member 130 may beproduced to be a substantially triangular shape instead of the plungershape shown in FIG. 1. Similarly to the exemplary embodiment shown inFIG. 1, in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4, second wall member130 has a first portion comprising top edge 132 and a second portioncomprising bottom edge 134, with the first portion being relatively widecompared to the second portion and the second portion being relativelynarrow compared to the first portion. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4,the left side and right side edges (relative to the view shown in FIG.4) of second wall member 130 that are bounded between top edge 132 andbottom edge 134 are linear, as opposed to being curved like the left andright edges (relative to the view shown in FIG. 1) of second wall member130 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. The security of a key beingstored within key member pocket 125 can be further ensured by includingan optional bump 160 (shown in FIG. 4) on first wall member 120 abovethe top edge 132 of second wall member 130. Bump 160 can either beintegrally formed on first wall member 120 or produced separately andcoupled to first wall member, for example and without limitation, bywelding. Bump 160 can be omitted from first wall member 120 withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosed concept. In addition toshowing an alternative shape of second wall member 130 and optional bump160, FIG. 4 also shows cell phone wallet 100 affixed to the non-screenside of a cell phone 10 via adhesive 150 (not visible in FIG. 4).

Referring to FIG. 5, in an exemplary embodiment, first wall member canbe formed with an opening 160. Opening 160 is disposed adjacent to thephone facing surface of second wall member 130 and is covered by secondwall member 130 when second wall member 130 is coupled to first wallmember 120. In an exemplary embodiment, first wall member and secondwall member can be formed as a unitary body, for example and withoutlimitation by injection molding, and forming first wall member withopening 160 facilitates the injection molding process. Forming firstwall member with opening 160 can also enable key member pocket 125 toexpand in order to accommodate a particularly bulky key or other bulkyitems that may be stored within key member pocket 125. First wall membercan be formed without opening 160 without departing from the scope ofthe disclosed concept.

In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall notbe construed as limiting the claim. The word “comprising” or “including”does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than thoselisted in a claim. In a device claim enumerating several means, severalof these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. Theword “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of aplurality of such elements. In any device claim enumerating severalmeans, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same itemof hardware. The mere fact that certain elements are recited in mutuallydifferent dependent claims does not indicate that these elements cannotbe used in combination.

Although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose ofillustration based on what is currently considered to be the mostpractical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that suchdetail is solely for that purpose and that the invention is not limitedto the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to covermodifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit andscope of the appended claims. For example, it is to be understood thatthe present invention contemplates that, to the extent possible, one ormore features of any embodiment can be combined with one or morefeatures of any other embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A self-adhesive cell phone wallet comprising: abase member having an adhesive material provided on a first phone facingsurface thereof; a first wall member coupled to the base member at asecond surface of the base member, the first wall member being coupledto the base member such that a card member pocket structured to receiveand hold a card member is formed; and a second wall member coupled tothe first wall member, the second wall member comprising: a top edge; abottom edge; a first portion; and a second portion, the first portionbeing wider than the second portion and the second wall member beingcoupled to the first wall member such that a key member pocketstructured to receive and hold a key is formed, wherein an axis of thesecond wall member is disposed at an angle not parallel to a bottom edgeof the first wall member, and wherein the key member pocket comprises afirst portion corresponding to the first portion of the second wallmember and a second portion corresponding to the second portion of thesecond wall member.
 2. The wallet of claim 1, wherein the first portionof the key member pocket is structured to fit the bow of the key, andwherein a second portion of the key member pocket is structured to fitthe blade of the key.
 3. The wallet of claim 1, wherein the second wallmember further comprises two side edges, each of the two side edgesbeing bounded between the top edge and the bottom edge, wherein the twoside edges are linear.
 4. The wallet of claim 1, wherein the first wallmember comprises a polymer.
 5. The wallet of claim 1, wherein the secondwall member comprises a polymer.
 6. The wallet of claim 1, wherein a topedge of the base member does not form a straight a line.
 7. The walletof claim 1, wherein a top edge of the first wall member does not form astraight line.
 8. The wallet of claim 1, wherein the second surface ofthe base member is textured.
 9. The wallet of claim 1, wherein thebottom edge of the first wall member forms a straight line, and whereinthe angle at which the axis of the second wall member is disposed fallswithin a range of 45 degrees to 60 degrees as measured from a lineparallel to the bottom edge of the first wall member.
 10. The wallet ofclaim 1, further comprising: a bump coupled to the first wall member adistance above a top edge of the second wall member.
 11. The wallet ofclaim 1, wherein the first wall member is formed with an openingdisposed adjacent to a phone facing surface of the second wall member,and wherein the opening formed in the first wall member is covered bythe second wall member.
 12. The wallet of claim 1, wherein the firstwall member and second wall member are formed as a unitary body.